Harnessing the Potential of African Diasporas through South-South Cooperation

Introduction

The project leverages the role of diasporas as agents of change to boost inclusive socio-economic development in six African countries—Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, and Tunisia—by promoting entrepreneurship and job creation through South-South cooperation.

These countries share historical, cultural, and migratory ties, with overlapping migratory routes connecting West Africa to North Africa and the Mediterranean. Many act as countries of origin, transit, and destination, hosting significant diaspora communities. Despite facing common challenges such as youth unemployment, irregular migration, and underdeveloped support systems for entrepreneurship, these countries present strong potential for mutual learning and innovation through bilateral and sub-regional cooperation.

The project's core aim is to harness the investment and entrepreneurial potential of diasporas—especially women and youth—for inclusive and sustainable development. The project will support institutional South-South cooperation, capacity building for public and private actors, and enhanced media narratives about diaspora contributions. Implementation will involve national and local authorities, diaspora organisations, universities, media, and business incubators through multi-stakeholder dialogues, capacity-building workshops, business support mechanisms, and awareness-raising campaigns, focusing particularly on gender equality and human rights.

Scope and objectives

This project addresses the underutilised potential of diaspora communities to contribute to economic development and employment creation in their countries of origin and destination. It helps address the limited institutional coordination, weak entrepreneurial ecosystems, and insufficient communication on the role of South-South migration.

The project undertakes the following actions:

Strengthening political and institutional South-South cooperation on diaspora engagement.
Supporting diaspora-led entrepreneurship through public-private partnerships.
Building capacity of public agencies to better support diaspora investments and job creation.
Facilitating local-to-local cooperation among regions in target countries.
Promoting inclusive narratives in the media on diaspora contributions to development.
Fostering women and youth’s empowerment through inclusive economic opportunities.
Developing training and mentoring for diaspora entrepreneurs and innovation incubators.
Implementing communication strategies for improved outreach and trust-building with diasporas.

Results

Outcome 1: Strengthen South-South institutional cooperation for diaspora engagement.

Outcome 2: Promote support for diasporas by public and private structures specialising in entrepreneurship and employment.

Outcome 3: Improve media coverage of the potential of diasporas for development in target countries.

About the project

This action is implemented by GIZ. Both DG INTPA and DG MENA are involved, given its geographical scope on both Sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa.

Implementing Partners

GIZ

Funding instrument

NDICI – Global Europe